State unemployment rate drops to 9.9 percent

South Carolina’s unemployment rate has recovered to its best since the Great Recession began, dropping to 9.9 percent. The seasonally adjusted rate reflects an over-the-year rate change of -1.6.Review federal numbers here.

The rate marked a 0.3 percent drop over February’s 10.2 percent unemployment. It is South Carolina’s lowest jobless rate since December 2008.

Governor Nikki Haley held a press conference to announce this benchmark. She was accompanied by General John Finan, interim director at the SC Department of Employment and Workforce. Haley said the drop into single digits was cause for celebration.

Companies are hiring, small businesses are doing better. My job is to make sure that our unemployment continues to drop. We are in single digits… that is a great thing for South Carolina.

Meanwhile, SCDEW spokeswoman Mary-Kathryn Craft said growth had been seen in both urban and rural counties.

While the rate is decreasing across South Carolina, it’s not just in the bigger areas like the Greenvilles and the Charlestons, but also in those rural areas.

The report said the hospitality and retail sectors created most of the 15,700 jobs added in March. Craft said all sectors reported increases, although gains in the construction and professional service sectors were minimal at only 100 jobs each. Those numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

Craft said the state’s growth rate was one of the best in the country.

South Carolina experienced the largest month-to-month increase in jobs, followed by California, Delaware, Oregon, and Rhode Island. (In terms of) increasing those jobs, we were one of the leaders in the country.

South Carolina’s rate is 10th-highest among states, but is an improved ranking over where the state has been since the recession hit in early 2009.